


Graveyards: Of unsung songs & unsaid words

by rldforyou (orphan_account)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-13
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-02 01:35:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6545137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/rldforyou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chanyeol says stuff. Baekhyun listens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Graveyards: Of unsung songs & unsaid words

"What’s the richest place in the world?"

Baekhyun pauses, and cocks his head, staring at the lump of blanket below him.

“Is it something that I should have already known? Or is it just a question that has a lame answer?”

A deep chuckle, albeit muffled, comes from beneath. A mop of hair surfaces, and Chanyeol turns around to nudge Baekhyun’s arm. Baekhyun mock whines, but Chanyeol just laughs again.

“Hey, give me some credit.”

The crickets shuffle outside, the TV blares from the living room, the chairs screech on the marble surface; white noise. But Chanyeol still catches the response.

A whisper, “I never do know with you.”

Chanyeol chuckles for the third time that night, when he had snuck in after a tired Baekhyun retired to his room, and decided to set up camp on the floor of Baekhyun’s bed.

“Am I not an open book?”

“I don’t know now.”

“I thought you knew me better than the rest.”

“I thought I did, too.”

A pregnant pause again.

Baekhyun stares up the ceiling, taking in the clean simplicity above him. A blank slate, that was what they were. But things happen, people change, and he wasn’t the same person he was a year and a half ago, Chanyeol wasn’t, heck, everyone wasn’t. It seems like fame does change people, something he told himself would never happen to him, to remain a lotus in the muddy pond, but Baekhyun is but a human. With impossibly huge dreams and the insatiable hunger to prove himself.

Chanyeol is too, and maybe that’s why they had hit off so well. They were all too eager, and it wasn’t even something he considered much when Chanyeol started displaying affection towards him in public. Even though part of him knows it was just for show, that their hands intertwine most when the cameras are around, something that doesn’t happen often off camera, Baekhyun still craves for Chanyeol’s warmth. No matter how it’s just a tool for popularity.

Baekhyun came to the realisation much later, before their comeback; such staged affection was doing much more harm to his psyche than he cared to admit, and so he began distancing himself from Chanyeol.

The latter noticed, and now the smiles that Baekhyun is graced with, they come with a tinge of bitterness. Chanyeol never confronted him though, and Baekhyun isn’t sure if it’s relieving or heart wrenching.

The clean wall above him is what that they used to be, and somehow along the way, it’s now a mess of colours. Ugly, lonely, and ultimately, missing. Baekhyun thinks it’s one of utter misery.

Chanyeol harrumphs and props his elbows on the edge of Baekhyun’s bed. Baekhyun ignores the dip and continues staring at the ceiling.

“Graveyards.”

“Huh?”

Baekhyun finally turns towards Chanyeol. The soft moonlight bathes Chanyeol’s face beautifully; muted glow lighting up Chanyeol’s left profile, the reflection of moonlight in those huge eyes is mesmerising and Baekhyun is so enraptured by the ethereal sight before him that for a moment, he doesn’t catch what Chanyeol says.

“… Cemeteries. Richest places on earth.”

“O… kay.”

“Rich with all the hopes and dreams that were never fulfilled, the books that were never written, the songs that were never sung, the inventions that were never shared, the cures that were never discovered, all because someone was too afraid to take the first step, keep with the problem, or determined to carry out their dream.”

“Oh. And where did that come from?”

“Les Brown.”

Deep breaths, in and out. They just gaze at each other, hardly blinking. Baekhyun sees a kind of softness - raw and vulnerable - in Chanyeol’s eyes, and wonders just how could he have missed this, even when he has been watching Chanyeol for so long; but yet he has never seen this.

Maybe he has been too buried in and blinded by his own hurt to see that perhaps, he isn’t the one who is hurt the most.

“Do you know? The first time I held your hand, I never wanted to let go. The feeling stayed, even after the thousandth time you’d graced my hands with yours. There wasn’t ever any doubt about you, Baekhyun. I never thought that I would grow to like someone this much, but I did. But I was so scared, because what if your smiles aren’t any more meant for me than the next person in the room, that all along your touches having just that extra bit of gentleness, is just a mere figment of my imagination? I initiated affection in front of the cameras because I knew you wouldn’t resist, and at least, for that few moments, I could pretend that we belong to each other, fitting like perfect pieces of a puzzle. Those moments were stolen but still I basked in them. When the camera lights switch off I let go, because any more and i would let my foolish self believe that I even have a shot with you in the first place. And then you started avoiding me like a plague and that’s when I knew I did wrong. I didn’t know what exactly, but there must have been something, and I hated myself for the dullness in your eyes, but heck, do I even matter that much to you? I don’t know, Baekhyun, I r-really d-on’t.”

The gravelly voice cracks at the end, and Chanyeol coughs unnecessarily, but even so Baekhyun can see moisture brimming in Chanyeol’s eyes. He senses that his own eyes are shining with unshed tears too.

“But Baekhyun, don’t you see? I’m so sad, so afraid. Always have been. When I heard the graveyard quote, I was but a teen, but I made a promise to myself. True, graveyards may be the richest places on earth, but when I decided to step on this path, in this industry, I swore that I would never have the graveyard rich with my unsung songs. So when I got reminded of it again, after we started to drift apart, I was so angry that I had even let this happen. I may have left the graveyards poor with my unsung songs, but I almost made it tonnes richer with my unsaid feelings for you.”

The wetness on Baekhyun’s cheeks leaves a sticky residue, and Chanyeol’s hand caresses his cheek hesitantly. Tenderly, Chanyeol leans in, and kisses the moisture. Licking it, even.

“You are the sole reason why I would leave the graveyard penniless.”

And as Chanyeol cups Baekhyun’s cheeks and kisses him proper, Baekhyun sighs languidly into the kiss, reacquainting with the warmth he has so dearly missed.

Graveyards should be penniless. And the present is rich with promise, hope and love.


End file.
